Yesterday, Netflix publicized two of the ‘features’ that came out of its biannual hackathon: facial-recognition that lets users control the app with their tongues and a ‘jump to shark’ button that lets viewers skip parts of movies that don’t include sharks.
![Netflix’s hackathon only seems like a bad idea](https://20627419.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hub/20627419/hubfs/The%20Hustle/Assets/Images/246640942-brief_2018-11-09T151330.700Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=246640942-brief_2018-11-09T151330.700Z.webp)
These two features are absurd. But, hackathons are increasingly popular across all different types of companies. What’s even more absurd? They actually work.
A quick hack-story lesson
Hackathons are concentrated design workshops that challenge participants to create a working product in one sitting.
The events became popular in the first dot-com boom as a way for global programmers to gather in one room to build a product in one work session, thereby avoiding the legal challenges of sharing IP across borders.
But, hackathons have since evolved into a cultural phenomenon: Hack-style development is central to Facebook’s culture (the company’s address is 1 Hacker Way), and organizations like TechCrunch host annual hackathons with prizes as high as $250k.
The benefits of staying hack-tive
A surprising number of hackathons have resulted in success: Startup GroupMe spun out of a TechCrunch hackathon and was sold for $85m a year later.
Internal hackathons have also panned out: Many of Facebook’s most popular features (Facebook Chat and the ‘Like’ button we see across the internet) started out as hackathon ideas.
According to management consultants, hackathons are a great business practice for any kind of company because they inspire outside-the-box creativity and allow for quick, low-cost prototyping.